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Dec 18, 2012
12/12
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president, is not on the news every night and cnn is not broadcasting from the shores of new york and new jersey -- that happened for a few days and then we've gone on to other pressing issues of the day. and as new challenges arise, the press attention will be diverted, as is natural. the problem is it may be natural but it's not necessarily good for people that have lost their homes, lost their businesses and without quick action from congress and robust, definitive, comprehensive support from the federal government, these individuals, these communities will not be able to recover. and i am living testimony as a senator from one of the state's hardest hit in recent memory from a natural disaster to really to be able to testify as almost an eyewitness -- as an eyewitness of what happened in the aftermath of hurricanes katrina and what is possible in this recovery for hurricane sandy. it's been over seven weeks since hurricane sandy claimed the lives of more than 130 americans, destroying -- and i want to correct the record -- 340,000 homes and 200,000 businesses. just to put that in
president, is not on the news every night and cnn is not broadcasting from the shores of new york and new jersey -- that happened for a few days and then we've gone on to other pressing issues of the day. and as new challenges arise, the press attention will be diverted, as is natural. the problem is it may be natural but it's not necessarily good for people that have lost their homes, lost their businesses and without quick action from congress and robust, definitive, comprehensive support...
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Dec 28, 2012
12/12
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eye 62
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new york, they get to decide. not the appropriators, not the authorizing committee, the cor corps's going to decide. well, i can tell you one organization that has a problem with priorities in this country today is the corps of engineers. and to blanket whatever they say as a priority versus having government oversight and committee oversight and appropriator oversight, by giving this blanket waiver, what we do is we take away our powers to correct them. and all this does is say that it's not automatically authorized and we will have plenty of time. because all these are mitigation projects. they all ought to be authorized and approved by the committee of jurisdiction as they go forward. all they have to do is come to congress and say, give us approval on this. rather than a blanket approval. and i think we're setting a terrible precedent, because what it says is, in the future, then we're going to let the corps decides what is important rather than the -- corps decide what is important rather than the governors,
new york, they get to decide. not the appropriators, not the authorizing committee, the cor corps's going to decide. well, i can tell you one organization that has a problem with priorities in this country today is the corps of engineers. and to blanket whatever they say as a priority versus having government oversight and committee oversight and appropriator oversight, by giving this blanket waiver, what we do is we take away our powers to correct them. and all this does is say that it's not...
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Dec 19, 2012
12/12
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it is clear that in new york and new jersey and in communities that were affected by this latest storm, state and local capabilities have been overwhelmed. it's clearly an appropriate time for the federal government, through the federal emergency management agency, to step in and provide assistance. unfortunately, fema has been declaring an increasing number of disasters over the past few decades, including for many storms and many events where the state and local capacities weren't overwhelmed. let me make that statement again. many of the disasters that have been declared were declared when state and local capabilities were not overwhelmed at all. so we're setting with this tremendous debt, we're setting with tremendous deficits, and we're now applying a lower standard than what we should, in my mind, and it's not just my opinion. the g.a.o. has actually studied this. we have a g.a.o. report that says this ought to be modified. and so what we're trying to do is to look at, if you go back in history and look at the reagan administration, on average they declared 28 events each year in
it is clear that in new york and new jersey and in communities that were affected by this latest storm, state and local capabilities have been overwhelmed. it's clearly an appropriate time for the federal government, through the federal emergency management agency, to step in and provide assistance. unfortunately, fema has been declaring an increasing number of disasters over the past few decades, including for many storms and many events where the state and local capacities weren't...
95
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Dec 17, 2012
12/12
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york and new jersey. and at the same time we will be providing as soon as legal aid, who through other resources are working with disaster cured merits because there is a -- coordinators because there is a tremendous demand on their services to help them sort out many of the aspects of this, as they seek their benefits, look out for their insurance, just the whole idea of sorting things out when you don't have documents because of when you need it. so we're going to have lawyers on the ground to work with the community. legal aid will be doing this and this'll also be coordinating pro bono lawyers. i'm also pleased to say that in this bill we really look out -- we see this bill as not just spending on these items. we see this as helping the communities get back on their feet, where they have vital federal services in law enforcement, the safety and protection of their community, whether we're maintaining the say the of our federal prisons or whether wooer he a making sure that -- we're making sure there's
york and new jersey. and at the same time we will be providing as soon as legal aid, who through other resources are working with disaster cured merits because there is a -- coordinators because there is a tremendous demand on their services to help them sort out many of the aspects of this, as they seek their benefits, look out for their insurance, just the whole idea of sorting things out when you don't have documents because of when you need it. so we're going to have lawyers on the ground...
123
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Dec 18, 2012
12/12
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york and new jersey exceed 300,000. for homes, we lost 275,000 homes along the gulf coast. in new york alone, we have lost over 350,000 homes, and those numbers are still coming in for new jersey. so while it's not on the television every night and cnn is not filming from the north, from new york or new jersey or any of these communities on a nightly basis like they did from new orleans and the gulf coast for weeks and weeks, it would be wrong for us in this congress to underestimate the damage that has been caused to this area. and one thing that i wanted to say today and i will come back for future remarks, it's not only the resources that we need to get to this region. $60 billion is not all that the region requested. they requested $90 billion and had good justification for asking for that. the president trimmed back those responses to get to the real core of what was needed for fema, for flood insurance, for corps of engineers, for mitigation, for transportation, so that the recovery could get under way in a very b
york and new jersey exceed 300,000. for homes, we lost 275,000 homes along the gulf coast. in new york alone, we have lost over 350,000 homes, and those numbers are still coming in for new jersey. so while it's not on the television every night and cnn is not filming from the north, from new york or new jersey or any of these communities on a nightly basis like they did from new orleans and the gulf coast for weeks and weeks, it would be wrong for us in this congress to underestimate the damage...
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Dec 26, 2012
12/12
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jersey and new york city. it is an essential artery in the region representing as noted this morning, more than $1.4 trillion in economic output, 11% of our nation's gdp. of all our transportation facilities, has suffered the most severe flow in superstorm sandy. we took every step we could to prepare for the storm. that despite our preparations this critical length was completely devastated by the historic storm surge, and flooding the reached over two feet above the prior 100 year flood level in lower manhattan. the storm surge reached and blasted to our passenger stations as that's light you up before, mr. chairman, indicates. and the tunnels which are ancient by today's mass transit standards. having been built at the turn of last century more than 100 years ago. the path network is dan's and closely contained with complex tunnels and are lucky underneath the hudson. these tunnels along with the boxlike structures connecting the tunnels contain rack upon rack of critical and decades old signals, switching
jersey and new york city. it is an essential artery in the region representing as noted this morning, more than $1.4 trillion in economic output, 11% of our nation's gdp. of all our transportation facilities, has suffered the most severe flow in superstorm sandy. we took every step we could to prepare for the storm. that despite our preparations this critical length was completely devastated by the historic storm surge, and flooding the reached over two feet above the prior 100 year flood level...
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Dec 18, 2012
12/12
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and schenectady, new york. it was a wonderful collaboration with amtrak and the state as to how those costs are allocated. and those other things we will continue to be doing. >> so that won't necessarily be broken out in terms of potential federal savings of federal offsets, investment? >> you know, i think the challenge that we're facing is, you know, first and foremost we are talking 150 billion here, and we see significant capital investments that need to be made. so one of the primary questions that needs to be answered is, how are those, what other funding sources to make those capital investments. and what we are evaluating is, there will be public dollars as we've been discussing here this morning, what is the capacity and the ability and the risk associated with private sector investment. and how does that all come to pass. and then as we do that, and we will look at where, along with amtrak and federal rate will -- federal railway administration for potential savings are on the operating side once you
and schenectady, new york. it was a wonderful collaboration with amtrak and the state as to how those costs are allocated. and those other things we will continue to be doing. >> so that won't necessarily be broken out in terms of potential federal savings of federal offsets, investment? >> you know, i think the challenge that we're facing is, you know, first and foremost we are talking 150 billion here, and we see significant capital investments that need to be made. so one of the...
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Dec 12, 2012
12/12
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new york has great wind energy potential. with that, i yield the floor, note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. corker: i ask unanimous consent that that be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. corker: and i'd like to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. corker: okay. madam president, i notice the chamber is empty today. most of us, i guess, are waiting to see if there is going to be an arrangement made between the president and speaker boehner on our fiscal cliff that's coming up in just a few weeks. i know that all of us want to see that happen. i think that each of us knows that the very best thing that can happen for the economy in new york or tennessee or anyplace is for us to get this behind us and for businesses to begin this next yea
new york has great wind energy potential. with that, i yield the floor, note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. corker: i ask unanimous consent that that be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. corker: and i'd like to speak as if in morning business....
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Dec 14, 2012
12/12
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in new york we passed a law saying legislators passed a budget and legislators in enough money. [laughter] for that became a problem. seriously, it's true. my question is as follows. the fad has an enormous amount of financial asset. if they would've let interest rates go up, the decline which in and of itself, of an even more shocking impact on our economy. is that not true? how do we ever get out if the fed is continuing to buy these financial asset that the quantity they are doing now? how do we ever get out of that mass? santan, i agree with everything you've all said that she didn't disagree about the problem. to me with that of the way our politics is financed because the final analysis, the earnings really have such an amount of leverage of this process and they are the ones that are not compromising and they are driving in addition to the lack of strong political leadership, they are the ones driving an extension of the stalemate. >> i will answer your first question on the fed. the fed holds short-term, some long-term is staggered. right now there's $40 billion a month.
in new york we passed a law saying legislators passed a budget and legislators in enough money. [laughter] for that became a problem. seriously, it's true. my question is as follows. the fad has an enormous amount of financial asset. if they would've let interest rates go up, the decline which in and of itself, of an even more shocking impact on our economy. is that not true? how do we ever get out if the fed is continuing to buy these financial asset that the quantity they are doing now? how...
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Dec 5, 2012
12/12
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the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be repealed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. first i want to thank my great colleague from pennsylvania, i enjoyed sharing a table last night with him and his beautiful, charming, intelligent wife, who he's lucky he would be the first to admit he's lucky to have married, and their four great girls. but second, thank him for his excellent, as usual, on-target remarks. we have a great chairman of the j.e.c. and every time he comes to the floor, it shows shoas. olympia snowe, bill kristol, congressman mike simpson of idaho, david brooks, congresswoman bono-mack and walter jones, "the national review." we're here to ai seau passing the senate's middle-class tax cut is the right thing to do. you don't have to take our word for it. two-thirds of the american public agrees with us but you don't need to take their word for it, either. just listen to the voices within speaker boehner's own party.
the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be repealed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. first i want to thank my great colleague from pennsylvania, i enjoyed sharing a table last night with him and his beautiful, charming, intelligent wife, who he's lucky he would be the first to admit he's lucky to have married, and their four great girls. but second, thank him for his excellent, as...
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96
Dec 4, 2012
12/12
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it's likely to increase health care costs. >> guest: with all respect in "the new york times" they are somewhat critical of republicans. they don't see the world the way that we do and that's fair enough. but having said that, look this is a good-faith effort, and the 67 figured that's something the president raised before and talked about in terms of his sight. so let's recognize the demographic reality. we have a lot longer than we used to live. >> host: you're talking abut raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67. that is an idea. >> guest: i probably would. it's in the context with what else we have out there. we've done that with social security. we give people a lot of time it's not like we do it tomorrow with anybody close. but again, we change the social security system it's not a surprise to me i want to get a check at 65 the way my dad did but i will be very close to 67i have a lot of time to adjust. these kind of adjustments and programs ought to be done in a bipartisan census just as that change was the ought to be done over a long period of time to protect people. so, aga
it's likely to increase health care costs. >> guest: with all respect in "the new york times" they are somewhat critical of republicans. they don't see the world the way that we do and that's fair enough. but having said that, look this is a good-faith effort, and the 67 figured that's something the president raised before and talked about in terms of his sight. so let's recognize the demographic reality. we have a lot longer than we used to live. >> host: you're talking...
120
120
Dec 19, 2012
12/12
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the gentlelady from new york knows so well. she told me the moving stories, like of the firefighters themselves, our gallant first responders, who suffered terrible fires in their own home community. what a horrible thing. and i know if you came with me over to the eastern shore and you went down to the community of crisfield, you would be really touched. this is a wo wonderful communit. but they've had some hard times. they have a 94% unemployment rate. our agriculture and our food industries have been hit by drought and declining species. our industries have been hard-hit. and in these rural areas, these communities have been in these homes for generation after generation after generation. the western shore lobbyists who come in -- or appraisers who are looking for gucci waterfront property might value these we will -- these well-maintained homes for the appraisal valve imu the appraisal value is in the hearts of my people in crsifield. george bush reagan administrations have lived there and -- generations have lived there an
the gentlelady from new york knows so well. she told me the moving stories, like of the firefighters themselves, our gallant first responders, who suffered terrible fires in their own home community. what a horrible thing. and i know if you came with me over to the eastern shore and you went down to the community of crisfield, you would be really touched. this is a wo wonderful communit. but they've had some hard times. they have a 94% unemployment rate. our agriculture and our food industries...
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104
Dec 20, 2012
12/12
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a "new york times" sports writer, in fact, joe drape, a reporter, moved his family from new york city to smith center, kansas, and lived there for an entire school year to chronicle the team's achievements and to write about the community. he tells their story in his best-selling book called "our boys: a perfect season on the plains." there are many reasons for this team's success that would bring a "new york times" reporter to this small town, but i think the community of smith center would agree with me that perhaps the greatest reason behind their success is their head coach, coach roger barda. the coach's 323 victories place him among the top five coaches in all-time kansas football on the list of wins. and in 2007, he was named the gator-aid national coach of the year. but this season, after 35 years of coaching, coach barda announced he was ready to hang up his whistle and retire. i had the opportunity to participate in several pregame flips of the coin with coach barda and his team over a number of seasons including the 2009 state title game, and each time i watched a very tale
a "new york times" sports writer, in fact, joe drape, a reporter, moved his family from new york city to smith center, kansas, and lived there for an entire school year to chronicle the team's achievements and to write about the community. he tells their story in his best-selling book called "our boys: a perfect season on the plains." there are many reasons for this team's success that would bring a "new york times" reporter to this small town, but i think the...
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68
Dec 10, 2012
12/12
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conversely, the bill would have designated the millions of families in new york, new jersey, florida, virginia and elsewhere to make in excess of $250,000 as rich and subject to higher taxes. still when it came to the death tax, this bill, which was supported by all but one democrat in this chamber, was silent. in other words, that bill assumed that current death tax rates would expire, a crushing below to america's families and businesses and farms. this bill which, once again, was supported by nearly every senate democrat, would allow the death tax to skyrocket and the exemption to be reduced to the lowest amount in over a decade, creating an administrative and compliance burden for nearly a million estates. allowing death tax policy to expire is another example of the president putting ideology and sentiment ahead of economic reality. while the death tax transfers wealth from one individual to an infinite amount of other individuals, the repercussions are felt throughout all income levels, from the person working in the cornfields to a kharb sheer at a mom -- cashier at a mom and p
conversely, the bill would have designated the millions of families in new york, new jersey, florida, virginia and elsewhere to make in excess of $250,000 as rich and subject to higher taxes. still when it came to the death tax, this bill, which was supported by all but one democrat in this chamber, was silent. in other words, that bill assumed that current death tax rates would expire, a crushing below to america's families and businesses and farms. this bill which, once again, was supported...
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133
Dec 17, 2012
12/12
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maryland was hit hard, not as hard as new jersey or new york, and our prayers go out to all the communities that have been affected. but maryland was hit pretty hard. we had sustained winds for hour after hour after hour after hour. we had rainfall records -- nine inches. we had storm surges of seven-feet waves. we had flooding on the eastern shore of maryland. we had a storm in the western part of our state that dumped -- dropped 30 inches of wet snow. so we suffered from the -- the flooding on the eastern shore and the storms in western maryland. many of the communities were people who live below poverty are elderly. senator mikulski was just on the floor and talked about the circumstances in the city of crisfield n. that city. in that city, 32% of the population live blo live below e poverty level. 71% sustained water damage. waterman, which is one of the major industries for that community, found that they were literally unable to work and they're still unclear as to what's going to happen to their crops. so we have a serious problem. give you just two examples of people who lived throu
maryland was hit hard, not as hard as new jersey or new york, and our prayers go out to all the communities that have been affected. but maryland was hit pretty hard. we had sustained winds for hour after hour after hour after hour. we had rainfall records -- nine inches. we had storm surges of seven-feet waves. we had flooding on the eastern shore of maryland. we had a storm in the western part of our state that dumped -- dropped 30 inches of wet snow. so we suffered from the -- the flooding...
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Dec 27, 2012
12/12
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would have blown up the new york subway. and it's because of intelligence received and they were able to follow him for a series of months that resulted in the arrest. so i think if i thought this country were out of danger, it might be different. but i believe there still is danger, and i believe every day in every way there are people who will kill americans if they can. and one of our jobs is to see that the intelligence part of the american government functions in a way that intelligence is streamlined, that it gets to the right place, that it stops an event from happening before it happens. and my great fear -- and i say this in good conscience to senator wyden -- you put all this out in public, and then the next thing is more, more, more. and then before you know it, the program is destroyed. i don't want to see that program destroyed. mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mrs. feinstein: i think your time is up. mr. wyden: madam president, i believe i control additional time. how
would have blown up the new york subway. and it's because of intelligence received and they were able to follow him for a series of months that resulted in the arrest. so i think if i thought this country were out of danger, it might be different. but i believe there still is danger, and i believe every day in every way there are people who will kill americans if they can. and one of our jobs is to see that the intelligence part of the american government functions in a way that intelligence is...
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77
Dec 11, 2012
12/12
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for example, california and new york or illinois. but that's exactly what these senate rules changes would allow. this isn't just some wild supposition on my part. the majority leader himself said the filibuster -- and i'm quoting here -- "is a unique privilege that serves to aid small states from being trampled by the desires of larger states." he went on to say -- and i'm quoting again -- "it's one of the most sacred rules of the senate." of course that was a few years ago, before he proposed to do the very thing that he is now -- that he has criticized. he now appears ready to undermine the most important rule, not by a two-thirds vote as clearly required by senate rule 22, but by a simple majority fiat. this contradicts long-standing practice and disregards the 67-vote threshold that president lyndon baines johnson said -- quote -- "he preserves indisputably the character of the senate." this is the same so-called nuclear option that democrats previously decried as breaking the rules to change the rules. for example, the senior s
for example, california and new york or illinois. but that's exactly what these senate rules changes would allow. this isn't just some wild supposition on my part. the majority leader himself said the filibuster -- and i'm quoting here -- "is a unique privilege that serves to aid small states from being trampled by the desires of larger states." he went on to say -- and i'm quoting again -- "it's one of the most sacred rules of the senate." of course that was a few years...
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145
Dec 20, 2012
12/12
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so let's just understand in this body so that there's no mistake that new york and surrounding areas will get their money because the principle of fema money and probably other disaster money as well is simply this -- at the beginning of a year, you have some money in fema, but you never know what the disasters are going to be throughout the next 12 months. but when a disaster is declared, there is money there to flow, and when that disaster money runs out, as far as i know, it's always been replaced. whether you have an earthquake in california or you have a hurricane in the gulf of mexico or you have drought in the midwest like we have or texas like we have or you have tornadoes like we have in the midwest, and sandy as the most recent example. as far as i know, there has never been any dispute under the laws at that time, and those laws don't change very often. they -- they do get the money out to the people that need it, and then when that fund goes dry, it is replenished by congress. now, unless somebody is seeking money other -- in some way other than other disasters that have
so let's just understand in this body so that there's no mistake that new york and surrounding areas will get their money because the principle of fema money and probably other disaster money as well is simply this -- at the beginning of a year, you have some money in fema, but you never know what the disasters are going to be throughout the next 12 months. but when a disaster is declared, there is money there to flow, and when that disaster money runs out, as far as i know, it's always been...